Police release video of theft suspect

ELLSWORTH, Maine — Local police officers have released a surveillance video in an effort to identify a suspect in a theft that occurred last summer.

Officer Christopher Smith said the suspect stole a woman’s purse from a shopping cart at the Wal-Mart in town last August. The victim had left her purse in the cart near the cart storage area in the store. A video from Wal-Mart shows that several people noticed the purse and chose a different cart. It then shows the suspect pushing the cart with the purse in it to another part of the store.

Smith said the video from Wal-Mart did not provide a clear enough image of the suspect to identify him. The man left the purse in the clothing section of the store. He took an undisclosed amount of money from the purse along with some credit cards.

Police were able to obtain another surveillance video that provided a fuzzy image of the suspect entering the Hilltop Mobile station, a short distance from the Wal-Mart, later the same day. According to the officer, the suspect used one of the credit cards at the convenience store.

The video also captured an image of the man’s car, a beige or tan Toyota Camry, but did not clearly show the license plate number.

Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact Smith or Detective Dorothy Small at 667-2168.